Is Pacquiao losing now because he’s not training hard enough?

By ESB - 01/01/2013 - Comments

pacquiao4445By Brad Cronick: In looking at how hard Juan Manuel Marquez prepared for his recent 6th round knockout win over Manny Pacquiao last month, it seemed as if he wanted it much more than Pacquiao did. Marquez not only looked like he was in better shape than Manny, but he looked he was working a lot harder than him in training camp.

Pacquiao seemed to be strolling around the ring and one got a sense that he wasn’t really doing as far as he needed to in order to get in the best shape. Pacquiao’s physique looked soft compared to Marquez and we already know the outcome of the fight with Pacquiao getting knocked out.

British boxing trainer Joe Gallagher has his own theory with what’s happened to Pacquiao, saying to Philstar.com “Nothing can go on forever…He’s [Pacquiao] had distractions outside of the ring, his personal life and it may affect him, It’s just about making money now and when you’ve made so many millions, it’s hard to train hard.”

It’s hard to imagine what it’s like being Pacquiao because he’s not like any other fighter right now in terms of popularity. He is huge in the Philippines and to be such a big celebrity as him, it’s got to be difficult for him to get the same amount of motivation to train hard like he did earlier in his career. He’s making over $20 million per fight plus the other big money he’s getting through endorsements deals.

That’s huge money when he takes it back home to the Philippines. He can buy anything he wants to, and he’s got so many people trying to get his attention no matter where he goes. Pacquiao has put even more pressure on himself with his decision to become a politician. That makes things much harder for him, it has to. Then he’s got his bible studies and that takes a lot of time as well.

It’s just surprising that he’s able to still fight at all with all the things he’s got going on his life. How can a fighter like that train hard when they’ve got so many things to do and people to see? I don’t think it’s possible for Pacquiao to put 100% of his time into boxing anymore. He may have been able to do that years ago but now with all the distractions in his life.